Business Opportunity - is it profitable and in demand?

[PA070508]

I recently came across a business opportunity and think it may be a good option to bring in some extra income for my family.
The business is lawn greetings (those signs, ie storks, cupcakes, that are placed on lawns to announce births, birthdays, events, etc). The initial investment is roughly $3500 from what I can gather. I like the idea but others in my family are a bit nervous because there are no businesses like that in my area - so they have never seen lawn greetings anywhere around here and assume it will be unsuccessful.

My question - do you believe this is a profitable venture and have you seen these greetings in your area? And if anyone out there has/had a lawn greeting business can you share your experiences? TIA!

[Harold Mansfield]

You can't just guess and ask opinions of people who aren't in your area, or your target market. You have to investigate within your target market. Ask people who would be potential customers if it's something they'd be interested in. why? or why not? Look at others who are selling these things and how they're selling them. Basically do a market test.

For something like that I can see maybe getting some product and hitting flea markets, swap meets, and craft fairs to see if they sell and if you have to the salesmanship to sell them. That's going to give you far more feedback than just asking around and may even give you some marketing ideas to make a decent go at it.

Personally I don't quite understand what they are, and I live in a condo so I'm not the target market.

[turboguy]

I have never seen a business like it in my area as well and would be very hesitant to start a business like that. Maybe if I had a better idea of what it was I might be more optimistic about it but it doesn't seem to have that much potential to me.

[SumpinSpecial]

I've seen a couple. A house down the street from me has a little blue "It's a boy" baby carriage sign posted in their front lawn. I think it's a cute idea that has potential. I agree with Harold (as usual, he's so good!) about doing a market test. I think you can do one or two tests on a very casual basis (meaning, prior to doing all the business setup work) to see if they sell. It might be worth spending around $500 to have some made so you can shop them around.

The big question is, do you have the sales skills? That's one thing that I started at zero when I launched my shop, but now I'm making opportunities for myself to practice at local events. It's helping! But for something brand spanking new like this, you'll have to be able to explain to people what they are and why they want one.

[cbscreative]

I've seen these kinds of signs in my area for several years, even decades, but can't recall seeing one very recently. However, my travel on residential streets is limited so not seeing one recently isn't too surprising and doesn't mean they're not still reasonably common. It could also be that social sharing has seriously carved into this market.

One part of your research I advise is check the local sign shops, especially the instant/strip mall types. See if they carry them either stock or offer them cheap. If so, that will be your leading competition and you'll need to have a plan to raise awareness so your target customers know about you before they just instinctively call one of these sign shops.

[SocMediaMaven]

I've seen these signs and would purchase myself...

BUT the vendor would really need to be in the right place when I needed one. It's tough for me to see how this would work--how you would build a brand.

I can see how you can advertise and be where your audience is when they need you. Craigslist comes to mind immediately!

[Harold Mansfield]

I can see how you can advertise and be where your audience is when they need you. Craigslist comes to mind immediately!

Is Craig's list really where you would go to purchase lawn art? Or are these more impulse buys if you see them at the local lawn and garden store? The local baby barn or maternity joint. Maybe if you saw one on someone's lawn and there was a web address on it you go to the site. As I mentioned before, local craft fairs, festivals, and flea markets.

I just don't see buried in Craig's list as the place where you're going to sell a lot of these. It's also a horrible presentation. I know some people swear by Craig's list, but you have to be honest that the site looks like a 2001 message board threw up on a 1995 class project. And that works for what it is, and what it is, is a classified site. But when you're marketing a product and want to be in charge of it's presentation and perception, Craig's list isn't the best look for you.

JMO of course.

[rentisto]

I have seen these kinds of sign is in my area ,which help their customers celebrate various occasions and events by renting displays that are set up in the recipient’s yards. You can set a lawn greetings to displays vary greatly from giant wooden character signs, to small critter signs, to a wide array of elements decorating a front yard. Generally you have two specific categories for lawn greetings; all occasion displays and the stork display.
You can do some interesting in greeting business like a sign of dinosaurs, cows, and more, and add a cute sign of a saying to make your recipient laugh his or her head off.i think it is good option to earn income.